So, to be clear, you are looking for something that tracks patients and their treatment? Something where you could look at what treatment a patient has received and what he or she is due? And something where you could see what doctor is treating whom?

Bob, I work with a VA Homeless shelter that does almost the same kind of outreach as your organization.

The software I am setting them up with is free and open source. The name of the Software is OpenEMR(http://www.open-emr.org/) It is an electronic medical record keeping software that is web based and secured by password and login. Users can have different levels of access, and patients themselves(if you want them to) can go in an lkook at their appointment schedules.

There is a demo available on their website here(www.open-emr.org/.../OpenEMR_Demo) that shows you how the software looks, and works, and sample records. It is an incredibly powerful piece of software and completely free!

If you have any questions about it, their community and wiki are incredibly active, and the developer is very attentve to everything posted.

After a brief look at the demo, I did not see things focused on substance abuse treatment, such as screenings, assessment, treatment plan, clinical notes, psych evaluations, etc. I presume that the software is customizable?

You can add any field or form you'd like to, being openm source it is completely customizable, even to have your logo etc on the login screens.

If you go into a patient record (new/search, last name of Reynolds) you can see a list of sample fields like appoinments, vitals, insurance etc, thos fields can be changed to be anything you'd like on installation of the software.

thanks for the info. Tell me more about your use. Do you do mental health and substance abuse treatment as a primary service? If so, how have you customized the app.

I saw where you can define documents to upload into the app and view. Can you also create totally new interactive forms where you can define the fields and enter the data and view the data via the app? If so tell me where to look.

Hi Bob, ...I don't want to be a stik in the mud, but did you try reading info at the open-emr site?... I'd never heard of open-emr, and now i find it totally rocks..., customizable, ect.

Bob, I don't know if you're in treatment support as a primary income or what; i say so cause, then there's a cost of doing business... in any case, i suggest you have someone technical (even a little more than you) in your corner; get the open-emr, install it on a TEST platform, a practice/not production computer (good to do always when you don't know what your dealing with), and PLAY WITH IT...

"we" could come out there and do it for you (remote connect, this and that...)... but hey, what are you willing to do to get the ball rolling? some free, professional grade, (certified by this and that -which can be quite a bear otherwise, and unusable), software. IT'S not $1K/user/year...hahaha, do some of the work Bob, or gain paid/volunteer support in your activity.

anywho, THANKS to rt-cwiggins

for mentioning the open-emr... i don't know how this had gone overlooked for so long... I know some clients to whom i'll have look into this.

Bob hasn't said anything against "open-emr" - he's merely asked questions about the application. Such questions are welcomed and encouraged here on TechSoup. It would be great if we all had enough time to play and test software we might be interested in, to figure out what various software platforms can do, but I think the vast majority of people don't have that time - we have many, many other priorities in our nonprofits and library-related work - so questions like Bob's are common, to save him time finding out what a software package can actually do.

Also, Bob has been very transparent about who he is. I hope you will be too by filling out your online profile. Here is advice on how to do that:

Nope never found anything that was customized and oriented for use at an agency.

Separately, for another substance abuse client, who is fairly large, I built a custom case management system for substance abuse treatment only. It is customized to their operation and needs. I could likely get approval for another agency to use it if it is a reasonable fit. However, my customizations would require a fee and I would not be able to make it available "as is".

It is built in Microsoft Access and has about 25 daily users, all LAN connected.

I also run automated, early morning downloads from a State operated system so that that data is also available on a read only basis in the local system. The download is built in Access VBA and uses SOAP/XML.

I have provided lots of training to the organization and have worked with them closely over the past four years to complete the system and enhance it as required.

Developing such a custom system is not easy and takes a lot of collaberation and time/effort.

I continue to enjoy working with nonprofits who provide human services here in the USA.